Thursday, April 22, 2010

Achy Breaky Heart And Samosas Over Chai

We live and we die. And in between that living and dying, we also LOVE. I had my first share of a painful heartbreak as a six-year-old. I “fell in love” with my father’s friend – a pediatrician who I visited since I was a baby. He chose a gorgeous doctor from London over me and moved on. Now, how could I compete with that? All I could do then was sob silently. When done crying, I would urge my Mother to play You Are My Sunshine on her record player. Over and over again, till Doris Day lulled me to sleep.

I lived to love and get my heart crushed…again! I found shoulders in friends to cry on till I finally met the man to hold hands forever, that same someone who diligently “edits” my blog posts and samples my cooking. Everyday.

A heartbreak story unfolded today too. Not mine, but a friend’s, who has been battling the break-up blues on her own. She finally managed to take some time off her work and meet me. I suggested my place for privacy sake only, and not go to any coffee shop, in case she decided to be all teary-eyed and sniffy-nosed.

I wanted to make her something soothing, like a soup. But a quick check at the daytime high and I decided against it. Purely from experience I knew, that breakups are also a time for a little indulgence. One look at the potatoes and the leftover cauliflower made me make up my mind on Bengali Samosas for J.

J arrived a little before time, trying to hide behind large Jackie O sunglasses. I had never met The Boyfriend, sorry, ex boyfriend, who apparently was a jerk to have dumped J for another. Yes, its the same story of that Bermuda Triangle (of Love)!

While playing a good host, a therapist, a healer, and friend, I was also left to cautiously deep fry the samosas I had already done the stuffing for and kept aside.

After five scrumptious samosas or shingara as we say in Bengali and a cup of chai (with extra sugar to mend the broken heart), J seemed more bearable of her own heartache. I knew food medication worked, but to see the results so soon in front of my eyes was another thing.

Licking the left corner of her mouth of any last trace of the tamarind chutney she was so happily dipping her samosas in, J took her Blackberry out. I thought she was going to make that one last call to the The Ex and tell him how happy she was enjoying the afternoon sun and miniature samosas. But I was wrong!

She looked at me with a better-than-ever look in her eyes and said, “Pree, give me the recipe for these samosas, I will save it on my phone.” Who was I to deny my girl friend a road to recovery en route the culinary course.

Blanch the cauliflower and peas and drain all water. Cut or break the boiled potatoes in uneven shapes and sizes. In a wok or pan, heat one tablespoon vegetable oil and add the cumin seeds. Sauté for a few seconds and add the cashews, raisins and green chilies. Fry till the nuts and raisins turn golden brown. Now add the boiled potatoes. Keep frying till everything mixes well. Add the blanched cauliflower and peas along with the grated ginger. At this time, add all the spices like the dry roasted ground cumin-coriander mix, turmeric and salt. Fry all the ingredients till traces of moisture go. Now add the chopped coriander and give it a nice mix. Be gentle with the mixing as all the vegetables are already cooked. Let the filling for the samosa come to a room temperature. Knead flour, nigella seeds, one tablespoon oil, baking powder and salt with some water. Make a dough and keep aside for 30 minutes, covered. Divide the dough into small, ping-pong ball-size portions. Dust flour on your kitchen counter and start rolling small discs of dough (puris) and cut from into halves. Now fill the potato-cauliflower filling into triangle-shaped pastries and smear the ends with water on your fingertips. Seal the ends pressing gently with your fingertips. Make samosas and keep on a baking dish/ non stick surface. Heat enough oil for deep frying in a wok. Start adding 2-3 samosas at a time and fry them till golden brown. Drain out excess oil on paper towels. Serve piping hot with chutney or tomato ketchup.

Pree,ki korcho bolo to , amar to dekhe hi khide pe gelo..and amar DH to blog post hi mushkil kore pore , edit to dorere kotha :(....(Have you seen "Friends" serial in one episode Jennifer Aniston is recovering from a heart break and all her friends are helping her in anyway possible..One hilarious episode I must tell you ..)

anyways I am glad you both had a nice time over a cup of chai and shingara..hugs and smiles

@The Knife, nothing fancy, I was just trying to cheer someone up! Plus I had some time on hand and the right ingredients at home.

@Jaya, this is the second time in two days that someone has mentioned FRIENDS after reading one of my posts. :-)My husband is my best and worst critic. There are times when he thinks something I have made/cooked is not worth a blog post and yes, I do listen to him! :-) Plus a second look always helps me! He is also very patient when I take food pictures even though he is very, VERY hungry. :-))

I have sent URL of this blog to many overseas friends, mostly Indians. To non-Indian friends, I have added the comment, that this is Bengali সিঙাড়া / singara & not the North India সামোসা / 'samosa'. The main difference being use of diced potato in former & mashed in the latter. Actually, the shell is also different, the former has soft crisp thin shell, while the latter hard thick shell. After trying out both, all non-Indian friends have preferred the Bengali সিঙাড়া / singara, esp home made ones.